in what world is this ok?

In April of last year, 18-year-old cyclist Jake McDonaugh was killed in a collision with a van at the intersection at Flatbush Avenue and Beverly Road. Witnesses say the driver of the van, 28-year-old Michael Oxley, ran a red light and was speeding when he killed McDonaugh. "He got stuck under the van, and the van [dragged] him about half a block against the asphalt," witness Brian Lorde told the Daily News after the 9:30 a.m. accident. Oxley was driving with a suspended license, and the NYPD took the rare step of charging him with criminally negligent homicide! Yesterday, some sort of "justice" was served.

The Post reports that a jury acquitted Oxley of homicide, and his attorney says a video from outside a restaurant "seemed to sway the jurors that Oxley had the light." But the jury did find Oxley guilty of speeding and driving with a suspended license, for which Justice Raymond Guzman sentenced him to 10 days in jail. Driving over the speed limit and killing somebody while your license is suspended? Slap on the wrist, as long as you have the right of way!

i would just like to know in what world is that ok?! ugh.........ok, back to work for me. please let us know what you think in the comments.

All you gotta do is take a look at what happened in the Masa Critica in Brazil, where the driver intentionally charged through a peaceful protest, his own son in the passenger seat. Assholes abound everywhere. Justice is rarely ever served.

@anonymous: yes. those of in the U.S. are privileged compared to other people, and at the same time, less privileged when compared to others (we do have 99% here that are pretty upset lately). however, does that make what i'm talking about any less dramatic or wrong? injustices are EVERYWHERE. this is one of them.

@KT: yes. that was horrible. and in mexico when you see the picture of people flying after getting hit by a car in that hit and run. people, in this case, the legal system, are assholes. ugh.

@Oldfool: too many my friends work as Public Defenders around the country. and too many of them also see injustice every day. sometimes depends on the mood of the judge. infuriating! but they go back in again and again day after day. kudos to them. they do see some victories too. :)

Daily car users should be prohibited from serving on such juries due to a conflict of interest. They can't help thinking, "gosh, that could have been me who wasn't paying attention and killed someone."

There are no words. I can't grasp how right of way trumps driving on a suspended license.

I think it's just the mindset that many people have that if you are a bicyclist and you get killed by a car it is your fault simply because you were on a bicycle and placed yourself at risk when you should have been in a car where you would have been safe. I talked with someone this week who literally expressed that thought. I didn't even bother to argue with this person. Our earlier conversation confirmed that he feels a car is simply essential to life.

I think it is interesting how life and its value are stratified by people. Who is valued and who is not and in what circumstances. Especially in a situation like this where the real killer is a lack of respect for the "other". When you look at a vehicle's safety record, it is not about how safe it is for the person that is hit by the vehicle, it is about how little injury there is to the person in the car. No one buys a car thinking "will this car kill fewer people if I hit them?".

If we all could walk away from these horrible situations with a better understanding of how we each need to save ourselves by considering the safety and health of others everyone would be so much better off.